JUSTICE WILLY MUTUNGA (CHAIRPERSON) 

Dr.  Willy M. Mutunga is a former Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya (2011 to 2016). He is a globally respected scholar, lawyer and social reform activist; credited with key reforms including those leading to the new Kenya Constitution 2010. He taught Law at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and was Regional Director for the Ford Foundation in East Africa. Furthermore, he served on many Commissions in and out of Kenya and continues to do so, especially in the areas of constitutions, social justice, and human rights.

Dr. Willy M. Mutunga is a holder of a Doctorate Degree in Jurisprudence obtained in 1992 from Osgoode Hall law School at York University in Toronto, Canada.  His area of study was Contracts. Dr. Mutunga obtained both his Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Master of Laws degrees from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania in 1971 and 1974 respectively. He has been, and continues to be, a passionate student of other disciplines.

Dr. Mutunga has established and served in many national, regional, and global civil society organizations among them the Legal Advice Centre (Kituo Cha Sheria); the Law Society of Kenya, where he served as vice-chairman from 1991 to 1993 and chairman from 1993 to 1995; the Council for Legal Education, Kenya; the Citizens Coalition for Constitutional Change (4Cs); the Kenya Human Rights Commission; the East African Centre for Constitutional Development (Kituo Cha Katiba), Uganda; and the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights and Democracy) in Montreal, Canada. His involvement has been in quest for global solidarities for justice, freedom, peace, non-violence, non-racism, non-sexism, anti-colonialism. gender justice, ecological justice, and preservation of our planet.

For his outstanding contribution to the development of law, human rights, good governance, and social justice, Dr. Mutunga has received several national, regional, and international honours and awards